News

January TV Calendar

The following list provides the dates of the new cable and major network dramas that are set to debut, the returning cable and major network dramas that will be airing more new episodes, several award shows, and some new made-for-TV movies and mini-series set to debut all in the month of January:

January 1 – The new Lifetime Movie Network movie House of Secrets will debut at 8 PM

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: Relieved to finally divorce her abusive, bullying husband Sam (Neil Jackson from Make It or Break It), Julie (Bianca Lawson from Teen Wolf) is determined to move forward with her life, despite having to live in the house Sam was building for them until she’s able to sell it. Her best friend and lawyer, Alison (Stephanie Jacobsen from Battlestar Galactica) convinces her to stay in the house for a while until she figures out what she is going to do. Having hired handyman Tyler (Brendan Fehr from Roswell and Bones) to work on some of the things that still need to be fixed in the new construction, Julie begins to realize that someone appears to be breaking into her house at will and watching her every move. She consults with seasoned Police Detective Morrison (Costas Mandylor from Picket Fences) who investigates the matter. The question is: could it be Tyler, whom she barely knows, or Sam, whom she knows all too well?

January 2 – The eight-part limited series The Assets will debut on ABC at 10 PM

Show Synopsis: This mini-series is based on the real life events of CIA counter-intelligence officer Sandy Grimes (Jodie Whittaker from the BBC mini Broadchurch). The year 1985 serves as the backdrop to the final showdown of the Cold War when Sandy and her partner Jeanne Vertefeuille (Harriet Walter from Babel) vowed to find the mole who would turn out to be the most notorious traitor in US History, Aldrich Ames (Paul Rhys from Borgia). Sandy is in a race against time to save the Soviet intelligence officers from being caught and killed. Living her own double life at home, this beautiful wife and mother vowed to stop at nothing until she uncovered the truth.

January 2 – Elementary will be back from its holiday hiatus on CBS at 10 PM

January 2 – Parenthood will be back from its holiday hiatus on NBC at 10 PM

January 3 – Grimm and Dracula will be back from their holiday hiatus on NBC at 9 and 10 PM respectively

January 3 – The Carrie Diaries will be back from its holiday hiatus on The CW at 8 PM

January 5 – Downton Abbey will be back for a new season on PBS at 9 PM with a two-hour season premiere

January 5 – The Good Wife and The Mentalist will both be back on CBS from their holiday hiatus at 9 and 10 PM respectively

January 5 – Revenge and Betrayal will both be back from their holiday hiatus on ABC at 9 and 10 PM respectively

January 6 – The second seasons of the Canadian dramas Cracked and King will premiere on Reelz Channel at 8 and 9 PM respectively

January 6 – Hostages will air its two-hour finale on CBS at 9 PM

January 6 – Teen Wolf will be back for the rest of its current season on MTV at 10 PM

January 6 – Castle will be back on ABC at 10 PM after its holiday hiatus

January 6 – Almost Human will be back from its holiday hiatus on FOX at 8 PM

January 7 – The new CBS drama Intelligence will debut at 9 PM

Show Synopsis: Josh Holloway (Lost) stars Gabriel Black as a high-tech intelligence operative enhanced with a super-computer microchip in his brain. With this implant, he is the first human ever to be connected directly into the global information grid. He can hack into any data center and access key intel in the fight to protect the United States from its enemies. CSI alum Marg Helgenberger stars as Lillian Strand, the Director of the elite government cyber-security agency who supports Gabriel and oversees the unit’s missions. Strand assigns Riley Neal (Meghan Ory from Once Upon a Time), a Secret Service agent, to protect Gabriel from outside threats, as well as from his appetite for reckless, unpredictable behavior and disregard for protocol. The cast also includes Michael Rady (Emily Owens, M.D.)

January 7 – Pretty Little Liars and Ravenswood will both be back for the rest of their current seasons on ABC Family at 8 and 9 PM respectively

January 7 – The new BET drama Being Marie Jane will debut at 10 PM

Show Synopsis: The series, based on the made-for-TV movie that aired in 2013 will focus on the story and life of a black woman, her work, her family as well as her popular talk show which she hosts. The star of the show is Gabrielle Union (FlashForward).

January 7 – The new ABC drama Killer Women will debut at 10 PM

Show Synopsis: Of all the notorious lawmen who ever patrolled the violent frontier, none are more storied than the Texas Rangers. Ballsy and badass Molly Parker (Tricia Helfer from Battlestar Galactica) is one of the first women to join this elite group of law enforcement agents. The cast includes Marc Blucas (Necessary Roughness), Michael Trucco (Fairly Legal) and Alex Fernandez (Devious Maids)

January 7 – NCIS and Person of Interest will be back from their holiday hiatus on CBS at 8 and 10 PM respectively

January 7 – Chicago Fire will be back from its holiday hiatus on NBC at 10 PM

January 7 – Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will return from its holiday hiatus on ABC at 8 PM

January 8 – The People’s Choice Awards will air on CBS at 9 PM

January 8 – Revolution and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit will both return from their holiday hiatus on NBC at 8 and 9 PM respectively followed by the new spin-off series Chicago P.D. debuting at 10 PM

Show Synopsis: District 21 of the Chicago Police Department is made up of two distinctly different groups: the uniformed cops who patrol the beat and go head-to-head with the city’s street crimes and the Intelligence Unit that combats the city’s major offenses. The cast includes Jason Beghe (Chicago Fire), Jon Seda (Chicago Fire), Jesse Lee Soffer (The Mob Doctor), Sophia Bush (One Tree Hill), Patrick Flueger (The 4400) and Elias Koteas (Combat Hospital).

January 8 – Psych will air its season premiere on the USA Network at 9 PM

January 9 – White Collar will be back from its short hiatus on the USA Network at 9 PM

January 10 – The new Syfy series Helix will debut at 10 PM with two episodes

Show Synopsis: The series follows a team of scientists from the Centers for Disease Control who travel to a research facility in the Arctic to investigate a potential outbreak of disease. While there, they find themselves stuck in a life-or-death situation that could decide the fate of the future of mankind. The cast includes Billy Campbell (The Killing), Hiroyuki Sanada (Revenge) and Jeri Ryan (Body of Proof).

January 10 – The second season of Banshee will begin on Cinemax at 10 PM

January 10 – Bones will be back from its holiday hiatus on FOX at 8 PM

January 10 – Hawaii Five-0 and Blue Bloods will be back from their holiday hiatus on CBS at 9 and 10 PM respectively

January 11 – The new drama When Calls the Heart based on the 2013 made-for-TV movie will debut at 9 PM on the Hallmark Channel

Show Synopsis: Daniel Lissing (Last Resort) and Erin Krakow (Army Wives) will take over the lead roles from the film about a wealthy young Canadian girl who heads West to be the town’s new school teacher and the town’s constable who is assigned to the town to protect her by her shipping magnate father.

January 12 – The Golden Globe Awards will air on NBC at 8 PM

January 12 – The new HBO series True Detective will debut at 9 PM

Show Synopsis: The series centers on detectives Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson), whose lives collide and entwine during a 17-year hunt for a serial killer in Louisiana. The investigation of a bizarre murder in 1995 is framed and interlaced with testimony from the detectives in 2012.

January 12 – The PBS one-hour special Unlocking Sherlock will air at 10 PM

Special Synopsis: This special will take viewers on a personal voyage through the versions of Holmes that have served as inspirations for the new series – the original stories, their factual origins, hundreds of film adaptations – to arrive at their thoroughly modern Sherlock. Writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss will explain the challenges they encountered adapting the original adventures of the iconic super-sleuth, going behind the scenes on the set of the hit television series. The special will include interviews with actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman and Lara Pulver who talk about the reinvention of their fictional characters.

January 13 – Sleepy Hollow will be back from its holiday hiatus on FOX at 9 PM

January 13 – Hart of Dixie and Beauty And the Beast will both be back from their holiday hiatus on The CW starting tonight at 8 and 9 PM respectively

January 13 – Intelligence will move to its regular night and time on CBS at 10 PM

January 13 – A marathon of Switched at Birth episodes will air on ABC Family from 12 Noon to 7 PM, leading up to the return of the new season of the show at 8 PM followed by the return of the new series The Fosters at 9 PM

January 13 – Lost Girl and Being Human will return for new seasons on Syfy at 8 and 9 PM respectively followed by the debut of the new Canadian series Bitten at 10 PM

Show Synopsis: Based on the novels by Kelley Armstrong, the series is an emotionally charged supernatural thriller that stars Laura Vandervoort (Smallville) as Elena Michaels, the lone female werewolf in existence. Desperate to escape both a world she never wanted to be part of and the man who turned her into a werewolf, Elena has abandoned her Pack and taken refuge in a new city. There, she works as a photographer and hides her werewolf existence from her new boyfriend. When bodies start turning up in her Pack’s backyard, Elena finds herself back at Stonehaven, the werewolves’ ancestral domain. Torn between two worlds and two loves, she quickly realizes that – when push comes to shove – she’ll stop at nothing to defend her Pack. The cast includes Greg Bryk (XIII The Series), Greyston Holt (Alcatraz) and Paul Greene (The Client List).

January 13 – Major Crimes will air its finale on TNT at 9 PM

January 13 – The Blacklist will be back after its holiday hiatus on NBC at 10 PM

January 14 – The Originals and Supernatural will both be back after their holiday hiatus on The CW at 8 and 9 PM respectively

January 14 – NCIS: Los Angeles will be back after its holiday hiatus on CBS at 9 PM

January 15 – Arrow and The Tomorrow People will both be back from their holiday hiatus on The CW at 8 and 9 PM respectively

January 15 – Criminal Minds and CSI will both be back from their holiday hiatus on CBS at 9 and 10 PM respectively

January 15 – Nashville will be back from its holiday hiatus on ABC at 10 PM

January 16 – The Critics’ Choice Movie Awards will air on The CW at 8 PM

January 18 – The Hallmark Channel movie June in January will debut at 7 PM

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: June Fraser (Brooke D’Orsay from Royal Pains) has envisioned her wedding day her entire life and even managed to plan every detail with her loving mother, Kathryn (Anne Marie DeLuis from Cedar Cove), before Kathryn’s passing only a few years ago. Now an adult, June has met Alex Blackwell (Wes Brown from Deception), a handsome attorney who hails from a very well-to-do family, with his intimidating and icy mother, Diana (Marilu Henner from Taxi), at the helm. After an exciting New Year’s Eve engagement, June can’t wait to plan the June wedding she’s always wanted to honor her mother’s memory with and she starts using a portfolio of bridal magazine clippings she created with Kathryn as a guide. Then, when Alex suddenly receives a job offer in Cleveland and needs to move right away, he asks June if they can move the wedding date up to January – just three weeks away! In a panic, June and Alex accept Diana’s offer to host the wedding at the Blackwell’s gorgeous home, giving Diana the footing she needs to plan the event her way. June tries to salvage her special day and pull off the perfect summer wedding she’s always wanted despite the chilly calendar change and Diana’s cold calculating scheming.

January 18 – The Lifetime movie Flowers in the Attic, based on the cult classic novel by V. C. Andrews, will air at 8 PM

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: The story weaves the twisted story of the Dollanganger kids who, after the unexpected death of their father, are convinced by their mother Corrine (Heather Graham) to stay hidden in the attic of their wealthy grandparents’ mansion so she can reclaim the family fortune. But as her visits begin to wane after she becomes involved with a new husband (Dylan Bruce from Orphan Black), the children endure unimaginable treatment at the hands of their ruthless grandmother Olivia Foxworth (Ellen Burstyn). As years go by and the eldest children Cathy (Kiernan Shipka from Mad Men) and Christopher (newcomer Mason Dye) come of age, both emotionally and physically, their family’s sordid past entraps them further as they look to each other for comfort.

January 19 – The series finale of Betrayal will air on ABC at 10 PM

January 19 – Sherlock will be back with a new season on PBS at 10 PM

January 19 – The Following will air a special preview episode on FOX at approximately 10 PM airing after the NFC Championship game.

January 19 – The UP channel movie The Town That Came A-Courtin’ will air at 7 PM

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: In this romantic comedy inspired by a true story, a small town plays matchmaker for its mayor (Cameron Bancroft) and a successful author (Lauren Holly from NCIS and Motive).

January 20 – Sleepy Hollow will air its two-hour season finale at 8 PM on FOX

January 20 – The 6-hour Discovery Channel mini-series Klondike will air its two-hour debut at 9 PM

MINI-SERIES SYNOPSIS: Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) and Augustus Prew (The Borgias) star as childhood best friends in 1897, who head West to seek their fortune in the Yukon Territories during the gold rush. The cast also includes Abbie Cornish (Sucker Punch), Tim Roth (Lie to Me), Marton Csokas (Rogue) and Chris Cooper (The Bourne Identity).

NOTE: The remaining four hours will air over the next consecutive nights, each two hours long.

January 23 – The series premiere of the new FOX dramedy Rake will air at 9 PM

Show Synopsis: The series follows Keegan Deene (Greg Kinnear), a criminal defense lawyer whose personal problems have lead him to self-destructive behavior that has him battling wits with everyone around him, including his ex-wife, the judges, the assistant district attorney, his bookie, and even the IRS. The cast includes Necar Zadegan (Emily Owens, MD), Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings franchise) and Tara Summers (Ringer).

January 23 – The Vampire Diaries and Reign will both return after their holiday hiatus on The CW at 8 and 9 PM respectively

January 24 – Dracula will air its season finale on NBC at 10 PM

January 25 – The Lifetime movie Lizzie Borden Took An Axe will debut at 8 PM

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: On a scorching, hot summer day in 1892 in Fall River, Massachusetts, Lizzie Borden (Christina Ricci) returns home to the house she shares with her father Andrew, stepmother Abby and sister Emma (Clea DuVall from The Event). But, unlike any normal day, Lizzie encounters the bloody scene of her parents violently murdered. Police quickly question multiple suspects in town, but evidence keeps pointing back to the Borden’s youngest daughter Lizzie, the seemingly wholesome Sunday school teacher, as the prime suspect. Lizzie’s lawyer, Andrew Jennings (Billy Campbell), proclaims her innocence arguing that it is inconceivable a woman could commit the heinous crime of brutally murdering her family with an ax. Or is it? Lizzie is put on trial for the murders, both in the courtroom and in the press, sparking a widespread debate about her culpability. As the case rages on, the courtroom proceedings fuel an enormous amount of sensationalized stories and headlines in newspapers throughout the country, forever leaving Lizzie Borden’s name in infamy.

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: Based on the Mary Higgins Clark best seller, Rachel Blanchard (Clueless) and Cameron Mathison (All My Children) star as Sandra “Sunday” O’Brien-Parker, a renowned attorney and private investigator, and her newlywed husband and sleuthing partner, Henry Parker (respectively), whose deep political ties and endearing love story put them at the center of intrigue and scandal. Jack Wagner will appear as Sunday’s dad.

January 25 – The new Starz period drama Black Sails will debut at 9 PM

Show Synopsis: The eight-episode series will take place 20 years before the events in the Robert Louis Stevenson story “Treasure Island”, chronicling the tales of Captain Flint (Toby Stephens from Die Another Day) and his men, including young John Silver (Luke Arnold from Winners & Losers).

January 27 – The season premiere of The Following will air on FOX at 9 PM preceded by an encore of the season two preview.

January 29 – The season finale of American Horror Story: Coven will air on FX at 10 PM

January 29 – The BBC America four-part mini-series Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond will debut at 10 PM

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: This film will take a no holds barred look at Ian Fleming (Dominic Cooper from Captain America), the man behind the James Bond legend whose real life was as exciting, eventful and sexually charged as his famous creation. Set at the outbreak of WWII – mischievous playboy Ian Fleming is untroubled by the specter of impending war – chasing women, collecting rare books and living off his family fortune. Forever in the shadow of his brother Peter (Rupert Evans from World Without End), and an eternal disappointment to his formidable mother Eve, Fleming dreams of becoming the ultimate man – a hero, a lover, a brute and the one who always gets the girl. He is finally given some direction in his life when he’s recruited by the Director of Naval Intelligence, Admiral John Godfrey (Samuel West from Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell), to help in the effort against the Nazis. Suddenly, Fleming finds his chance to shine and prove his worth.

January 30 – The season finale of White Collar will air on the USA Network at 9 PM

January 31 – The Carrie Diaries will air its season finale on The CW at 8 PM

January 31 – The Great Performances movie Barrymore will debut at 9 PM on PBS

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: Actor Christopher Plummer (The Sound of Music) portrays illustrious (and notorious) actor John Barrymore in the story based on the 1997 play by William Luce. Set in 1942 during the final months of Barrymore’s life as he struggles to recreate his performance in Shakepeare’s Richard III, recalling the highs and lows of his remarkable life and career.

Using her favorite online handle, Rueben is an East Coast-bred gal who is now a permanent Californian and a lifelong tv-oholic. She watches at least 25 TV shows a week, goes to the movies as often as possible, listens to music every waking moment, reads every day and “plays” on the internet every chance she can. Some of her current favorite TV shows are Outlander, Arrow, Grimm, The Blacklist, Teen Wolf, Killjoys, Dark Matter, The Shannara Chronicles, Good Witch, When Calls the Heart, The 100, Switched at Birth, Jane the Virgin, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Flash and The Fosters (among others). She is looking forward to the debut of No Tomorrow this fall and the limited-run returns of Prison Break and 24: Legacy. Follow her at @ruebenrambling or contact her at rueben@nicegirlstv.com.